Wednesday, October 27, 2004

Hello

Jazz has invited me to drop in from Middle Earth once in awhile to rant. As it says over on the right sidebar I�m a registered Independent or as we are known as here in Oregon an unaffiliated voter. I�ve already voted, as have about half of the Oregonians, since we all vote by mail, no polls on Tuesday.

I was a manufacturing engineer for most of my life but since I don�t speak Chinese I couldn�t follow my job there. I am now able to do what I really wanted to do anyway, digital art. If you are interested a few of my pictures can be found here. Go to Search by Artist find Ron Beasley and click on GO.

Like Thomas Jefferson and the other founding fathers I don�t hold organized religion in very high regard. I find the Christian right in this country to be a frightening phenomenon and can�t understand why anyone would want to return to the 14th century.

In addition to being an engineer I have a degree in Earth Sciences (geology) which I find fascinating. Because of that understanding of Earth History I have some views on global warming that make me unpopular on both sides of the issue and will probably discuss it at some point here. Living in Portland I am about 40 miles from a volcano that is currently erupting. You will find updates on that over at Middle Earth Journal. It gives me a break from politics.

A brief rundown on how a feel about some current issues can be found here. More latter.

"War is, and must always remain, the course of last resort. It represents the complete and utter failure of diplomacy and all other forms of civilized conflict resolution. A pre-emptive war must be the very last choice, only to be entered into after long, sober consideration. It must be embarked upon only with a broad base of consent among our global neighbors after we jointly reach the sad conclusion that there is simply no other choice, and that we face a clear and present danger to the rest of the world."